Britain to deliver missiles to Ukraine using Russian assets
The UK will deliver missiles to Ukraine at the cost of frozen Russian assets.
British newspaper The Guardian reported that Prime Minister Keir Starmer will transfer missiles to Ukraine, the cost of this operation will be taken from profits on frozen Russian assets.
“Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a new military aid package for Ukraine, this time paid for with UK interest on frozen Russian assets,” The Guardian reports.
According to Prime Minister Starmer, the UK will send 350 modern air defense missiles, pay 70 million pounds (about 95 million dollars) in interest costs on frozen Russian assets.
“This step marks the first time the UK has used Russia-linked funds to directly finance arms to Kiev,” The Guardian noted.
Ahead of the NATO Summit, Prime Minister Starmer agreed with leader Zelensky on close cooperation in the field of defense production between the UK and Ukraine.
Following the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the European Union and the G7 countries froze nearly half of Russia's foreign exchange reserves of around 300 billion euros. More than 200 billion euros are in the EU, mainly in the accounts of Belgium's Euroclear - one of the world's largest payment and clearing systems.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly called the freezing of Russian assets in Europe “theft,” noting that the EU targets not only private funds, but also Russian state assets.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would respond to the West's seizure of frozen Russian assets. He also said Moscow might not return Western assets in Russia.